Gwen Ffrangçon-Davies / Marda Vanne Company
The Gwen ffrangçon-Davies / Marda Vanne Company, (also referred to as the Marda Vanne-Gwen Ffrangçon-Davies Company in some sources), was founded by Gwen Ffrangçon-Davies and Marda Vanne when Frangçon-Davies came to South Africa South Africa in 1941.
(Also found with Gwen's name written Gwen ffrangçon-Davies / Marda Vanne Company or Marda Vanne-Gwen ffrangçon-Davies Company in some sources)
History
They toured the country with a number of fine productions and presented seasons of plays during the war years at the Standard Theatre till 1946.
Wright suggests their first partnership (a tour of 15 weeks in 1941) was under the banner of "The Good Companions".
Performers
The company utlized performers who were to become household names, including Siegfried Mynhardt, Wensley Pithey, Rolf Lefebvre, Zoë Randall, Alec Bell, Le Roux Smith le Roux, Ivy Collins, Noel Hewitt, Margaret Inglis, Jessie Bryant and Sidney James.
Productions
The plays performed included Barrie’s Quality Street (1941), Twelfth Night (1941), Flare Path (1943), What Every Woman Knows (1943), Milestones (1944), Lilian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine (1943), Coward's Blithe Spirit (1944), The Merry Wives of Windsor (1945), Emlyn Williams's The Wind of Heaven (1946) and Turgenev's A Month in the Country (1946), and The Taming of the Shrew, which was their last performance before they went back to England.
Sources
Tucker, 1997.
Scenaria, (120), January 1991.
For more information
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